How can I find the earliest date based on a specific criteria using Google Sheets?

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Google Sheets is a powerful tool that allows users to organize and manipulate data in a spreadsheet format. One useful feature of Google Sheets is the ability to find the earliest date based on a specific criteria. This feature is particularly useful for users who need to quickly identify the first occurrence of a certain event or data point. By using the built-in functions and filters in Google Sheets, users can easily sort and search for the earliest date that meets their desired criteria. This allows for efficient data analysis and decision-making. With Google Sheets, users can easily find the earliest date based on their specific criteria, saving time and improving productivity.

Google Sheets: Find Earliest Date Based on Criteria

You can use the following syntax in Google Sheets to find the earliest date in a particular column based on specific criteria:

=MINIFS(C2:C13,A2:A13,F1)

This particular formula finds the earliest date in the range C2:C13 where the value in the range A2:A13 is equal to the value in cell F1.

The following example shows how to use this formula in practice.

Example: Find Earliest Date Based on Criteria in Google Sheets

Suppose we have the following dataset in Google Sheets that shows when various basketball players joined their particular team:

Suppose we would like to find the earliest date among players who are on the Rockets team.

We can specify the Rockets team name in cell F1 and then type the following formula into cell F2 to find the earliest date:

=MINIFS(C2:C13,A2:A13,F1)

The following screenshot shows how to use this formula in practice:

By default, Google Sheets displays the date in a numeric format.

To convert this to a recognizable date format, select cell F2 and then click the Format tab, then click Number, then click Date:

The date will now be formatted as 4/13/2009:

Google Sheets find earliest date based on criteria

Note: You can find the complete documentation for the MINIFS function in Google Sheets .

Additional Resources

The following tutorials explain how to perform other common tasks in Google Sheets:

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